Method and apparatus for collating sheet copies from a duplicating device

ABSTRACT

A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MANUALLY COLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM A REPRODUCTION MACHINE IS DISCLOSED. THE APPARATUS COMPRISES A ROTATABLE DRUM HAVING A MULTIPLICITY OF COPY-RECEIVING BINS ABOUT ITS CIRCUMFERENCE. THE DRUM IS ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON A PLATFORM AND SO SIZED THAT DESIRED ONES OF THE BINS THEREIN CAN BE ALIGNED WITH THE OUTPUT STATION OF A DUPLICATING DEVICE BY MANUAL ROTATION OF THE DRUM. SPRING-BIASED DETENT MEANS ARE PROVIDED TO YIELDABLY SECURE THE DRUM IN ANY ONE OF ITS DISCRETE ANGULAR POSITIONS. THE DISCLOSED METHOD INCLUDES THE STEPS OF MANUALLY MOVING A SELECTED ONE OF A PLURALITY OF COPY RECEIVING BINS ALONG A CIRCULAR PATH INTO COPYRECEIVING RELATION TO A REPRODUCTION MACHINE DISCHARGE STATION, OPERATING THE MACHINE TO EJECT A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF COPIES INTO THE SELECTED BIN, AND TERMINATING THE PRODUCTION OF COPYING WHILE MANUALLY ROTATING THE NEXT OF A SELECTED BINS INTO COPY-RECEIVING RELATION TO THE MACHINE.

March 2, 1971 J, F|NK EI'AL METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLATING SHEETCOPIES FROM A DUPLICATING DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 18, 1968INVENTOR. PENELOPE J. FINK & BY JAMES R. WARREN METHOD AND APPARATUS FORCOLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM Filed July 18, 1968 A DUPLICAIING DEVICE 3Sheets-Sheet 2 EQLZ.

INVENTOR. PENELOPE J FINK &

Y JAMES R. WARREN ATTORNEY March 2,1971" ,J,F.NK ETAL Y 3,567,217

' COLLATING METHOD AND APPARA FOR LIC Filed July 18, 1968,

SHEET COPIES FROM ICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 A DUP ATING DEV INVENTOR.PENELOPE J. FINK & BY JAMES R. WARREN ATTORNEY United States Patent 03,567,217 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLATING SHEET COPIES FROM ADUPLICATING DEVICE Penelope J. Fink, Lemon Grove, and James R. Warren,Chula Vista, Califl, assignors to Rohr Corporation, Chula Vista, Calif.

Filed July 18, 1968, Ser. No. 745,734 Int. Cl. B6511 31/00 US. Cl. 271862 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for manuallycollating sheet copies from a reproduction machine is disclosed. Theapparatus comprises a rotatable drum having a multiplicity ofcopy-receiving bins about its circumference. The drum is rotatablymounted on a platform and so sized that desired ones of the bins thereincan be aligned with the output station of a duplicating device by manualrotation of the drum. Spring-biased detent means are provided toyieldably secure the drum in any one of its discrete angular positions.The disclosed method includes the steps of manually moving a selectedone of a plurality of copy receiving bins along a circular path intocopyreceiving relation to a reproduction machine discharge station,operating the machine to eject a predetermined number of copies into theselected bin, and terminating the production of copying while manuallyrotating the next of a selected bins into copy-receiving relation to themachine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method andapparatus for collating and more particularly to a method and apparatusfor collating multiple copies from a reproduction machine.

A multitude of machines presently exist for making a plurality ofreproductions from an original document, letter or the like. A minimumof etfort is necessary on the part of a human operator while operatingthese machines until time comes to distribute the copies according tosome predetermined distribution schedule. For example, a certaindocument may be intended for distribution to 25 different recipients,each receiving varying numbers of copies. The time consuming collatingprocess exists between the time of production of the total number ofcopies and the time when each recipient receives his designated numberof same. An operator must sort the total number of copies and manuallycollate same to provide each designated recipient with the propernumber.

It is desirable to minimize the effort required in collating such copiesand therefore to shorten the time delay between production of the copiesand ultimate distribution. It is further desirable to improve thecollating process in such a manner that an element of human controlremains for its inherent flexibility to change but yet apparatus shouldbe provided that mimizes the human effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION are ejected from a duplicating device intodiscrete groups as desired.

3,557,217 Patented Mar. 2, 1971 ice This invention achieves the abovenoted objects by providing a circular drum rotatably supported about itscentral axis and having a plurality of copy receiving bins disposedabout its circumference. The drum is rotatably mounted on a base portionin such a manner that re spective ones of the copy-receiving bins may bemanually positioned to align with the output station of a reproductionmachine by rotation of the drum. The method of using the collatingdevice includes the steps of aligning the bin with the output station,actuating the machine to eject the predetermined number of copies intothe desired bin, stopping the machine and repositioning said drum sothat a diiferent copy-receiving bin is in alignemnt with the notedoutput station.

The above and other objects and features of this invention will bebetter understood from the following detailed description and appendedclaims in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side view in elevation of one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view in elevation of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view of a portion of the apparatus in FIGS. 1 and 2taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and showing in detail the spring-biaseddetent mechanism;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of a bin wall for the apparatus of FIGS.1 and 2; and

FIG. 5 is a pictorial illustration showing the arrangement of oneembodiment of this invention with a duplicating machine and furthershowing the method in which the apparatus is manipulated by a humanoperator.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In considering in detail the apparatus and methodof this invention it should be first noted that throughout the drawingsand description, the same numerals have been used to indicate the sameelements or parts.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 the details of construction of oneembodiment of this invention may be readily understood. The collatingapparatus in its preferred embodiment includes a drum generallydesignated as 11 having side walls 12 and 13. The side walls aremaintained in spaced relationship by the plurality of radially disposedbin walls such as 14. The spacing of the side walls, and hence the widthof the bin and bin walls, is determined by the particular size ofmaterial such as paper with which the apparatus is to be used.Similarly, the number of bin Walls and hence the number of bins may bevaried to suit the particular needs of the user. If for example thenumber of distributees is not extensive, but each is to receive numerouscopies, then the bins would be low in number but each being relativelywide, in a circumferential sense, to accomodate a number of copies. Onthe other hand, if the number of distributees is extensive but each isonly to receive a few copies than many bins and necessarily many binwalls would be provided.

The side walls 12 and 13 are, preferably, circular plates of a suitablerigid material such as steel, aluminum, etc. Similarly, the bin walls 14should be constructed of a similarly rigid material. The exact manner bywhich the side walls are secured to the bin walls is not important,however, one technique for doing same can be best seen in FIG. 4. In theembodiment of FIG. 4 each bin wall 14 is provided with an upturned lipportion 15 on each of its sides. The lips such as 15 provide surfacesthrough which rivets may be used for attachment to the side walls of thedrum. The bin walls could also be secured to the side walls by weldingtechniques or the like. Referring still to FIG. 4 it can be noted thatone end of the bin wall 14 may be provided with a right angle extensionthereto such as end or inner wall 16 for limiting the depth of therespective bins. Without the inner wall portion 16 copies received inthe various bins might pass too far into the center of the drums to bereadily removable by hand. Once again, whether or not such an end wallis provided and, if it is, what the dimensions of same would be aredetermined by the sizes of copy material such as paper with which theapparatus is to be utilized. Each bin wall may also be provided with acutout area 17 which permits paper in the bin to be readily removed bythe hand.

A pair of mounting or support blocks 18 are attached to respective sidesof the drum and in alignment with the central axis thereof. The blocksare so aligned and arranged to receive a shaft 19 which passes throughthe center of the drum 11 coaxially to the central axis thereof. Theblocks 18 are rigidly secured to the shaft 19 by a suitable pin or boltarrangement. The length of the shaft 19 is suflicient to permit the endsthereof to be received in suitable bearings or bushings of the supportstructure to be described.

The support structure generally designated 20 comprises a pair of rigidside walls 21 and 22 secured in a rigid spaced relationship by suitablespacers and reinforcing members such as shown at 23, 24, 25, and 26. Asshown in FIG. 2, and partially in phantom in FIG. 1, the reinforcingmembers typically are suitable lengths of angle iron or the like.Reinforcement along the length of the support structure may be providedby angle iron such as at 27. The noted structural details do not form apart of this invention and therefore it is not considered necessary todescribe in full the manner in which they are arranged and secured tothe side walls. It is sufiicient at this point to state that the sidewalls are maintained in a rigid spaced relationship by suitablestructural members. For ease in using the finished apparatus, the sidewalls of the support structure may be contoured as shown best in FIG. 1,i.e., they are provided with an upwardly extending arcuate portion 28 onwhich the bearing blocks to be de scribed are mounted.

As noted previously suitable bearings for supporting drum shaft 19 in afreely rotatable manner are provided on the base side walls 21 and 22.The hearings or bearing blocks can best be seen in FIG. 2 and aredesignated by the numerals 29 and 30. Each is so sized as to mate withthe respective end of the shaft 19 and receive same in a freelyrotatable manner. The bearing blocks are rigidly attached to the baseside walls by suitable means such as bolts 51 or other rigid typefastening devices or methods. At this point it should be apparent thatthe drum and base structure as described results in an arrangement wherethe respective bins of the drum may be freely rotated to any angularposition.

If copies are placed in a particular bin, and the bin then rotated, thecopies will tend to fall out of the bin by reason of gravitational forceas the bin is rotated through the lower 180 of travel of the drum.Accordingly, copyretaining means are provided to prevent any copies fromsliding out of the bins during the noted 180 of drum travel. Thecopy-retaining means comprises a rigid plate 32 formed in an arcuatemanner to conform to the shape of the drum. Plate 32 is supported withinthe base 20 by a suitable mounting bracket or plate 33. Plates 32 and 33can be best understood from FIG. 1 wherein they are shown in phantom.The width of copy-retaining plate 32 need only be sutficient to preventthe normal size of copies from escaping from the bins.

For ease in manipulation of the drum by an operator a handrail isprovided around the perimeter of the drum on at least one side thereof.The handrail comprises a tubular member 34 formed in a circular manneras best seen in FIG. 1. The tubular member 34 is spaced apart from thesidewall 12 by suitable mounting brackets such as 35. The spacingbetween the tubular handle 34 and the sidewall 12 should be sufiicientto permit human fingers to be inserted therebetween. By grasping thehandle or rail 34 the 4 drum may be readily rotated into a desiredposition by the operator in a manner to be described.

To improve the alignment of particular copy receiving bins with theoutput station of the duplicating device, spring-biased detent means areprovided for yieldably holding the drum in a desired angular position.Each such angular position corresponds to alignment of a particular copyreceiving bin with the noted output station.

The detent means comprises a circular plate or locating wheel 34 havinga plurality of notches about its outer periphery. The number of notches35 is equal to the desired number of discrete angular positions. Wheel34 is integral with or rigidly attached to a mounting block 36. Block 36is in turn rigidly secured to shaft 19 in a manner such that it rotateswith the shaft. As noted in FIG. 3, block 36 could be secured to thewheel 34 by suitable mounting bolts or screws such as 37. Aspring-biased ball or plunger 38 supported by housing 39 is aligned withthe wheel 34 in a manner such that the ball or plunger 38 will engagewith the recesses 35 in the locating wheel 34 and prevent the wheel 34from rotating until a rotational force in excess of some minimum isapplied thereto. Housing 39 is suitably attached to the side wall 22 ofthe base structure by suitable means such as bolts 40. Ball or plunger38 is biased by a spring, located within the housing 39, which exerts aforce on the ball or plunger which tends to force same towards thecenter of the wheel. The shape of the notches or grooves 35 and theshape of the ball or plunger 38 should be so chosen that the detentmeans securely prevents rotation of the wheel 34 but yet responds to areasonable degree of force to yield and permit rotation of the wheel 34.Since both wheel 34 and drum 11 are rigidly affixed to shaft 19 itfollows that the drum is therefor secured in the same yieldable manneras the wheel.

As may be noted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the base 20 of the collating apparatusmay be provided with lockable casters such as at 41 to permit theapparatus to be easily transported to and aligned with a duplicatingdevice with which it is to be utilized.

Having thus described the structural details of the invention referenceshould now be made to FIG. 5 by which the method of this invention canbe best understood.

In practising the method of this invention the steps to be describedbelow should be followed. It can first be assumed that a master fromwhich copies are to be made has been loaded into the duplicating machineand hence the latter is prepared for operation. It can also be assumedthat in accordance with normal distribution or collating schedules ofthe user of the method, appropriate notations have been made on thevarious copy-receiving bins to indicate the name of the recipient,number of copies to be received, etc. This latter information, whenreadily available to the operator of this method, permits increasedefficiency and speed of operation. Typically, suitable labels or thelike can be attached to the sides of the bins in a manner visible to theoperator and yet readily removable to incorporate changes.

With the above in mind, the operator begins operation of the method byaligning a particular one of the row of adjacently disposed bins intoregistering and copyreceiving relationship with the discharge station ofthe duplicator by manually moving the bin along a circular path. Theduplicator is then turned on and copies are allowed to discharge oreject from same and into the bin. The operator notes when the desirednumber of copies have been ejected and then either stops the duplicatoror manually positions a second bin, removed from the first bin, intocopy-receiving relationship. The second bin can be positioned within thetime between copies from the duplcator when it is not too far removedfrom the first bin. For example, if the second bin is six away from thefirst on a drum containing 36 bins, the required repositioning can beachieved between copies from a medium speed duplicator. If the secondbin were 18 away from the first in the above noted example thenrepositioning between copies would be unlikely. In such a case theduplicator is stopped, the bins repositioned and the duplicator startedagain.

The further step of yieldably and mechanically retaining a selected binin registering relation to the discharge station aids in the efiicientpractice of the method. The latter step greatly simplifies therepositioning of bins by providing an indication of when each is alignedand then maintaining such alignment.

An additional step of retaining collated copies when their respectiveholding bins are inverted further improves the method.

A suitable apparatus for practicing the method of this invention is thatshown in the drawings. In particular, referring to FIG. 5, the operator42 is shown grasping handle 34, readly to change bin positions, whilevisually monitoring the number of copies such as 43 being ejected fromthe discharge station 44 of duplicator 45. In the illustratedarrangement, the operator is ready to align a new bin with theduplicator merely by rotating drum 11 by exerting the proper forcethrough handle 35. Furthermore the duplicator is in easy reach of theoperator and therefore may be turned on or off as desired withoutnecessitating movement of the operator from the collating apparatus.

It has been found that through use of the apparatus and method of thisinvention, the collating of great numbers of copies from duplicators canbe made into an efficient and streamlined operation. It should beapparent from the preceding description that this invention greatlyremedies the problems which existed heretofor.

Although this invention has been described with relationship to aparticular embodiment of same it should not be limited thereto forvarious changes and modifications could be made by one having ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of thisinvention as defined in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A manually operated collating mechanis comprising:

a supporting frame,

a rotary, generally cylindrical drum having a plurality of radiallyopen, document receiving pockets dis- 6 posed symmetrically about acentral axis of the drum,

bearing means rotatably mounting the drum on the supporting frame forrotation about its central axis with said axis in a horizontal position,

a stationary band carried by the support and closely enclosing thepocket openings about the lower portion of the drum for retainingdocuments in the pockets against gravitating therefrom when such pocketsare directed downwardly during rotation of the drum about its axis,

a circular hand wheel for rotatively adjusting the drum in eitherdirection and having a radius corresponding substantially to that of thedrum fixedly secured-coaxially to and laterally adjacent the drum formanual rotative movement of the drum about itsaxis, and

an indexing Wheel having detent means co-ordinated with each drum pocketupon rotative movement of the drum for yieldably anchoring the drum withany selected pocket positionedin a selected angular position, saidindexing means having a drum restraining strength sufficient to beovercome by a positive manual rotative force exerted in either directionon the handwheel.

2. A manually operated collating machine as defined in claim 1 whereinthe support frame has a pair of side frame portions located one on eachside of the drum, and the hand wheel is attached to a side of the drumand is located between the drum and one of the side frame members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,922,640 1/1960 Fornell et al271-64X 3,031,189 4/1962 Fornell et al 27186 3,076,647 2/1963 Lowe et al27186X HARVEY C. HORNSBY, Primary Examiner D. D. WATTS, AssistantExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

